MadGenius

Wolf

 

Zombies don't have the mass appeal of hiest/crime fiction. Just look at Box office numbers of both genres.

 

I was looking at the numbers between Walking Dead, Leverage, and White Collar. Movies are harder to compare, since hiest/crime movies as a rule get far more a-list talent than zombies, so I was trying to stick to TV shows.

 

Leverage and White Collar last season finales both have less a third of what the Walking Dead was.

 

I wasn't trying to argue that Thief of Thieves will not be a great book to make profit off of short term, I just don't think we'll see the crazy numbers of Walking Dead, I'd even be surprised it it hit Chew 1 numbers and held.

 

My point was, I can't see this book staying hot long term. Short term, if you can get them for cover, seems like a fantastic buy.

 

Does anyone else see the problem with trying to guess the next big book, when everyone else is doing the same thing, reading the same news, and buying multiple copies of the same book?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Image-SAGA-1-DIAMOND-RETAILER-SUMMIT-Variant-RRP-BRIAN-K-VAUGHAN-/300695140255?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item4602d3b79f#ht_500wt_922

I think patience is a virtue with the Saga RRP.

Case in point: Back in the good 'ol days (2007) Dark Horse produced a limited edition RRP of Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite #1 (limited to 1,000 copies). I don't have data on what raw copies went for when they first hit the market, but GPA will show you what the first 9.8 slabs went for. If memory serves, it was somewhere around $300. Once the market for these things matured, the average price fell back to the $150-$200 range. People see "limited edition" and freak out because they don't want to miss out on it, but believe me when I say they will be available later. I've managed to secure 12 copies of the UA book in a little over 2 years (6 raw, 5 CGC 9.8, 1 CGC 9.9).

Granted, the Saga RRP has half the print run, but copies will be available at a more reasonable price once all the hype dies down.

Here's two more. The way the guy is holding them doesn't inspire confidence:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Saga-Retailer-Summit-Diamond-Variant-/270955604085?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item3f16366875

CBC waiting to happen.

As much I'd like to get my hands on one these books, I was in no way considering $100 for a raw "NM" copy.

2sold.

 

Recession my

People have too much money.

 

There are 500 not 50.

Look again. All gone...

AWESOME!! Who's doing the mail-in?

It might be worth it to find a beater copy and rip the page out. The questions are hilarious!

how heavy are the stacks of Saga #2 are you guys seeing, 2 or 3 per store here.

A LOT. I've been to two stores today, and both were well stocked. They both had copies of the #1 first print still on the shelves, so they clearly ordered heavy.

My LCS had one 2nd print of number one left after being open for 3 hours. Not sure how many they got but this place doesn't sell out of anything too often.

I've heard that orders for 2nd prints were limited to 20% of the order for 1st prints. I'm not sure why, but that's what I've heard.

Argh Spoilers! Being a MadGenius I would think you would know this!

Spoilers? I considered that a spoiler-free review.

Just finished reading #2 and, man, that was some good stuff. The Stalk! The Horrors! Alana's bad-assery!

It's going to be a long wait until #3.

anyone worried they may not get Saga 1 2nd printing midtowncomics is still accepting orders for them.

Also, see me for raw copies in about 10 days. I have a good amount coming my way.

I think stores that still have copies ordered prettily heavily. I went into a local store on Friday, and they still had some minty fresh copies. I brought 2 to the register, but the the clerk told me only 1 per customer (this only applied to Saga, as he let me purchase multiple copies of Danger Club #1 in the same transaction).

an LCS near me has a bunch for $6 each. is this a good price? will it sell for a few bucks higher?

I'd buy a NM copy for $6. If it was a NM/M copy, I'd probably pay $10.

All right. Preliminary March sales data is up. No estimates just yet, but Saga #1 was the #40 book in March. It was sandwiched between Daredevil and Red Lanterns. For the sake of comparison, the #40 book in February was FF #15 with an estimated 40,583 copies sold. Daredevil sold 37,891 in February and Red Lanterns sold 39,105.

Looks like Branget's SAGA 9.8s are doing well on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAGA-1-CGC-9-8-NM-M-Brian-K-Vaughan-Fiona-Staples-SOLD-OUT-/160778770344?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item256f2957a8#ht_1207wt_1139

Only one left for anybody looking for a copy.

Ennis, Dillon, and Fabry Preacher SS books still available:

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5563956#Post5563956

True. Walking Dead 92 is heating up. Walking Dead craziness or things to come for Fatale?

 

92 is about Jesus, not Fatale.

Isn't Fatales first app. in Chew 22?

The first Fatale preview is in Chew #22. The second is in WD #92. I just sold a raw WD 92 on eBay for $21.50 last night. Not too shabby.

Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon, Glenn Fabry, Duncan Fregredo, and Sean Phillips Signature Series comics in the copper/modern sales forum:

LINK

Big Kudos to Rich Henn for handling my books at London Comic Con. This was my first time subbing books for CGC SS and, having just received the grades, I couldn't be happier.

Re: the lower left corner binding tear.

I pre-ordered heavy on Saga #1 and, of the 40 copies I've looked at, they ALL have that binding tear to one degree or another. Having subbed several books to CGC in my time, I don't think that by itself would prevent a 9.8 grade. That being said, I wouldn't expect to see any 9.9 or 10.0 copies.

I just cannot get over the prices on Walking Dead. It makes no sense to me whatsoever, and if I still had 'em, I'd be selling 'em hand over fist.

 

A word of caution to those who think this is not a bubble, and that WD will continue to appreciate forever and ever...

 

The sales of WD are not driven by casual viewers. Casual viewers are not suddenly collecting comic books because of this show. Reading the TPBs because of the show...? Perhaps. Suddenly dropping everything to invest hundreds of dollars in the floppies based on what happens (and who appears) on TV? Very very doubtful. Casual viewers are not watching the season finale, and then jumping up, exclaiming, "Oh my God! The five second clip of that chick with the sword...I bet she's on a comic book somewhere! I have to have it! And...not only do I have to have it, but I need to pay top dollar for a high grade example...preferably signed and authenticated!"

 

That price jump on a CGC 9.8 from $450 pre-finale to $670 the very next day? That was sold from one comic book collector to another slightly slower comic book collector, both of them probably overcome by the universal WD hype. The only people getting whipped into a frenzy here are other comic book collectors. And, if anything, this is most similar to a game of musical chairs. We'll see who gets a seat, and who's still left holding their overpriced WD comics without a chair when the music stops.

Saga is still selling strong on ebay with sales coming in at $8.00 to $10.00 before shipping and handling. I imagine that this book was under ordered because of false comparisons to Ex Machina. I think people assumed that other retailers would be ordering in larger quantities than they did and that the title wouldn't enjoy the sucess it has in the secondary market. Anyone want to revise their predictions regarding the print run. I still think that orders were between 25K-30K but won't be surprised if the print run was even slightly lower than 25K. I do not think that there is any way that there are 200K copies of this title. Also, has anyone seen what the second print cover image looks like? Last, but not least, has anyone heard of any convention variant cover(s)? Thanks for any insight you are willing to share.

I'm going to stick with my 35K prediction.

Just updated my CAF Gallery with 3 new additions:

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=83222

Okay...Finally had a chance to read this today. I liked it. I think it's good. Perhaps a victim of its own hype and unrealistic expectations, but I'm obviously continuing on with this series.

Yes, the TV head sex scene was weird, but I like weird so I'm okay with it.

Game of Thrones notwithstanding, I wonder if the language and sex will ultimately limit the audience for this type of Fantasy/SciFi story?